Cyber Evolution
by ShivaVixen
Summary: An AU of Shade Penn’s Come and Get it, from around chapters 12 & 13 of that story, posted with permission. The Autobots brought back the wolf predacon they found in the desert, but proving he was Jack Darby was the easy part, and opened an entire can of worms they didn’t expect to deal with.
1. chapter 1

**Shade Penn wrote a wonderful story called 'Come and Get it' which has inspired many AUs, including this one. I highly recomend reading that story, as this story diverges at Chapter 12/13, when Jack, who has been transformed into a wolf predacon, was sent off the Nemesis and into the path of the Autobots, who miss their chance to save him. This story is what would've happened had the Autobots rescued Jack in the desert. I'm posting this with Shade Penn's permission, and hope you enjoy.**

"We'll take him back with us." Optimus decided, and ordered Ratchet to open a ground bridge. Bulkhead grabbed the wolf who didn't fight, tail even wagging slightly.

A roar of rage and disapointment followed them through.

"Prime, what are you thinking?!" Agent Fowler demanded, and yelped as suddenly, June shoved past him, dodging Ratchet and Sideswipe's attempts to grab her.

"Jack!" She called out. The tail wagged again as the wolf's ears went forward.

"Mo-oom." He managed, and wiggled a little in Bulkhead's grasp. "St-tt-ill-grr-ounnded-till-twenny-five?"

Bulkhead almost dropped Jack. That was not something a con would have cared to know about, as it was, he gently set Jack down, letting him try and curl around his mother who did her best to hug him. Arcee knelt down next to them both, earning another slight wag of the tail.

"Jack, is that really you?" Miko yelped as her attempt to get to Jack was thwarted by Wheeljack scooping her up. The wrecker also moved closer to Ultra Magnus, fully prepared to cover his commander in case this proved to be a trap.

Though with the way the wolf was trying to make itself small enough to be touched by June, he was pretty sure it wasn't. Miko looked up at him annoyed, and Wheeljack gave a small shake of his head. "Let June go first, kid."

"Jack?" June noticed something else, her son's optics were dull and barely open, and it seemed like- well, if he was still flesh, she would've said his breathing was labored. "Ratchet! Something's wrong!"

"Probably needs energy, Rafael, I need you to set up the scanners." Ratchet held up a syringe, light glinting of it slightly.

Jack suddenly growled, optics opening and glowing green. Instead of attacking however, he ducked behind Arcee and June, optics on the syringe.

There was a moment where everyone took in the fact that Jack was far too big to effectively hide behind either of them. Jack seemed to realize this, and scrambled to hide behind Optimus, though his movements were uncoordinated, and he nearly knocked Smokescreen off balance in the process.

"Jack?" Arcee questioned, glancing between him and Ratchet. "What's wrong?"

"Maybe he doesn't like shots?" Miko called out. She had stopped trying to get to Jack, and was watching the proceedings with curiosity. Raf had moved from his computer while the programs for the scanners loaded to stand near Agent Fowler, both uncertain about how to deal with the proceedings in front of them but unable to stop watching.

"Jack. You are safe. Ratchet will not harm you, I promise." Optimus spoke, and Jack's ears twitched. He looked up at Optimus for a long moment, and then closed his optics.

Arcee stopped June from running to her son when the wolf collapsed. Optimus and Ratchet transfered Jack to the medical berth, Ratchet quickly giving him a shot of Energon before doing something June didn't see, followed by putting one of the wires she recognized for monitoring vitals.

"Ratchet?" June looked up at the medic. "Is he-?" She didn't know what she wanted to ask, so she trailed off, she was positive that this was her son, but she didn't know how such a drastic change could've occurred, or what sort of damage such a change had done.

"He was running on empty, I believe is the phrase. He'll recharge for some time. In the meantime, I'll run some tests on his CNA to see if we can verify that way, but I'm fairly certain that this is Jack, given his reaction to his mother and Arcee." Ratchet offered. Then he noticed the way everyone was staring. "Don't you lot have things you should be doing?"

"I will head out to scout the next sector, when I return, Smokesreen and Bumblebee will head out." Optimus stepped forward, effectively blocking the view of Jack. "I suggest you two start looking over the maps and data of the area that Agent Fowler will provide." The two nodded, and moved to the secondary console, though Smokescreen kept shooting looks back. "Arcee?" Optimus looked at the femme, who had moved to be as close to the medical berth as possible without getting in Ratchet's way as he began doing the scans.

"I'm staying with Jack." Arcee declared.

Optimus merely nodded, knowing that now that they had Jack back, it would be difficult to get Arcee away from her partner until she was sure he was real and healthy. Arcee and June had been hit the hardest by the absence of the young man, getting him back in any form was a blessing. "Then I suggest everyone else go about their usual activities as quietly as possible so as not to disturb Jack's recharge."

"All due respect, sir, but the predacon does not appear mentally stable. Are you sure it's wise to leave it unrestrained?" Ultra Magnus spoke up, absently flexing his new claw hand. Agent Fowler grimaced, while he shared the same concerns, he would not have expressed them quite like that, especially as June was still in the room.

"Excuse me?!" June whirled on Ultra Magnus, "My son would never hurt anyone!" Arcee knelt down to place her hand on June's shoulder.

"I don't want personal feelings to cause us to overlook a security risk." He calmly responded, optics returning to Optimus. "His behaviour in the desert and just now was rather erratic and not what I'd call stable, especially given what we do know of the other Predacon."

"He's exhausted and just escaped the Con ship, could just be keyed up." Agent Fowler offered, bringing their attention to him. "Of course, that doesn't explain how he got off the ship to begin with, or why he was heading our way- there's no tracker on him right?" He almost wanted to kick himself for not having voiced the possibility sooner, Ultra Magnus had a point about personal feelings clouding a security risk.

"Hold on." Ratchet quickly checked, and everyone was relieved when he declared that there were none.

"When Jack awakens, we will ask him how he escaped, but for now, we will continue as normal." Optimus decided. "As for the issue of any instability, at least one Autobot shall be on watch at all times ... and it would be best for any humans to keep their distance until we know if or how much of his mental state is compromised." He looked down at June who looked like she was going to start yelling at Optimus. "I am sorry Mrs. Darby, but Jack's new state is an unknown we cannot currently predict, once he wakes up, we will know what has changed, but until then, we must be cautious."

"Not to mention he probably needs time to get used to how big he is now." Wheeljack noted with a wry grin. "Might break a few things on accident anyways."

"Like Bulkhead and the power lines?" Miko asked. Bulkhead spluttered in shock.

"Who told you about that?" Bulkhead asked, looking at the other bots and Agent Fowler.

"Wheeljack." Miko pointed to the mech holding her.

"Jackie! How'd you find out?" The trio moved off to another part of the unit to watch a movie they had planned to watch earlier.

"I'll hold off telling the brass the full situation until Ratchet has a report, for right now I'll just tell them you found an injured bot that might be an ally." Agent Fowler offered, and Optimus nodded.

"That would be best, thank you Agent Fowler." Optimus transformed and left through the ground bridge to go scout for energon. Agent Fowler immediately went into his office to give the initial report.

Ultra Magnus went to his ship, flexing his replacement claw and frowning.

"Scanners ready?" Ratchet looked at Raf who had returned to his computer. June reluctantly went up to sit nearby, alternating watching the monitors and the recharging form of the wolf.

"Yes Ratchet, and computer scanning programs are online." Raf tapped a few keys as Ratchet hooked up another wire to Jack's still form.

"What are you doing?" June asked, unable to watch silently. "I though you already hooked up the cable for monitoring vitals."

"I have, this cable is for more in-depth diagnostics, it will basically read the codes that make one function and let us know if there are any errors or bugs in them. Unfortunately, given the equipment I have access to and the fact that Jack's new body is basically an ancient system I am not familiar with save from historical data files, it's going to take some time for us to see the full map of codes." Ratchet explained, and the computer made a soft beeping noise. "Ah, we're getting the first basic sets of data now."

"What about the CNA sample?" June asked, and Ratchet merely held up a second syringe that looked a little smaller than the one for energon, it was filled with an odd yellow substance.

"I'll be putting this in once I get enough of the codes for comparison. It would help if you could give a sample of your DNA as well, it wouldn't have to be much."

"I'll ask Bill if he can get me what I need from the base's infirmary. Shouldn't take long." June got up, but kept glancing back at Jack and Arcee as she went to the Agent's office.

"June," Agent Fowler was surprised to see her come in, "Do you need something?"

"Ratchet wants to see if he can compare my blood to Jack's new CNA. Think your base's Doctors would mind me using a butterfly needle, IV tube and blood vial?"

"I'll go ask, but June, I need you to do me a favor." Agent Fowler had submitted the intial report, and realized there might be a problem that he hadn't thought of previously.

"What?" June looked at him, and something of what he was thinking must've shown in his face because she instantly became suspicious. "What is it?"

"I need you not to say anything about Jack being found, on social media or the email chain that we're using to help Jasper residents stay connected and find any missing family members or pets."

"Why? They already know Jack was missing, some of my co-workers picked that up while we were starting to set up at the triage center."

"Except he's come back as a giant Wolf Robot, any friends or well-wishers wouldn't be able to see him or even speak to him." Agent Fowler grimaced. "I don't want to do this, June, believe me, but my job is to keep the existence of giant robots secret from the general public, and now your son is one ... I have to do my job."

"... I know." June understood, and it was something that she had already realized even though she was focusing more on the fact that he was back with her at all. She had Jack back, but their life wouldn't be the same as it was even compared to only a few short months ago. "I just ... I'll think of what to do eventually, but right now ..."

"Let's just be glad your son is alive. The rest can keep until tomorrow." He put a hand on her shoulder, and recieved a very watery smile in return. "For the record, I'm glad he's back with us too, it was killing me that I might've lost one of those kids. Thought General Bryce was going to order me in front of a firing squad when he realized the three were actually minors and I hadn't told him." The general in question had been furious when he learned that Jack was captured as well, Agent Fowler had needed to call Prime for help in assuring the General that the instant they had a clear shot at the Nemesis they would be launching a rescue mission for the boy.

June gave a small laugh at that. "Thank you, Bill. You've been a great help and comfort during these past few months, I'm sorry if I was ever short with you, I just ..."

"No need for apologies, June, we were all on edge without the kid. I thought you were amazing, holding up as well as you did." There was a small pause as they looked at each other, seeing a possibility in each other's eyes that might one day be a reality. Agent Fowler suddenly realized he still had a hand on her shoulder. He hastily removed it and cleared his throat. "Well, I, uh, better get you those supplies, won't be a moment."

June gave a quick cough and a nod. "Right, I'll be with Jack and Ratchet, thanks again, Bill." She took a moment to compose herself after he left. Jack needed her now, she'd think about that possibility later. Returning to the main hanger she walked back to her spot. "Agent Fowler's going to ask the doctors on base. Is there anything else I can help with?"

"Well, while Jack's memory seemed pretty good, there's a possibility he might've lost some memories during the process of changing species, perhaps you could come up with some sort of memory test we can give him in the morning so we can tell if he's lost anything?"

"Alright, I can use the one we normally use for concussion patients as a basis, if he wakes up you might want to ask him his name, age and the year, as well as if he knows what happened to him ... I'll work on a more in depth one after I draw my blood sample." June agreed.

It didn't take long for Agent Fowler to return with the medical supplies needed. "Ah, Mrs. Darby, maybe you should have gone with me and gotten the sample that way, I don't know how you're going to do it yourself." He realized, and June just gave a small smile.

"Don't tell my teachers, but I might've practiced on myself once or twice during nursing school. But I hope you don't mind helping me." She sat down and it didn't take very long for her to walk Agent Fowler through the process of connecting the IV tube to the vial once she got the vein. Once she had the sample and disposed of the needle and tube in a biohazard bag she would later throw away at the medical bay, Ratchet had her put the sample into an odd looking slide so he could compare it to the CNA sample from Jack. Raf stayed up helping Ratchet log the data from the scans, until June ushered him to the couch. She waited until he was asleep before joining Arcee in a vigil near the resting form of Jack.

Across the hangar, Wheeljack kept a steady stream of questions to keep Miko distracted, though for the most part she had agreed when Bulkhead had asked her to wait until Jack woke up to ask any questions she might have had.

"So, I thought the previous movie had this monster hunting and killing people, why is it helping them in this one?" Wheeljack asked as the giant lizard slammed into another monster.

"Because while humans might be snacks to that big guy, he doesn't like other monsters coming into his territory." Miko explained like it was obvious.

"... This is one of the creatures that was probably inspired by the Predacons Shockwave sent to earth millenia ago, isn't it?" Wheeljack asked, grimacing as the lizard was flung into a building, nearly demolishing it.

"Probably, and there are a couple other monsters that he sometimes works with. I think they're planning to reboot this idea soon."

"That poor car." Bulkhead grimaced at the sight of a squished car. "Those humans need to get out of there now."

"You've been saying that since the movie started, Bulkie." Wheeljack noted. "Please tell me we're not going to have a random romantic interlude right now?" He grimaced as it focused on two of the humans trying to help the giant lizard against the other monster.

"Nah, they're just getting the rocket propelled grenades loaded into their launchers- nevermind. One of them is totally gonna die." Miko noted. Bulkhead partially covered his optics as Wheeljack joined Miko in betting which human would die before the end. Both ended up being disappointed. "Seriously? His best friend? Why do they never have one of the leads die, it would make a more interesting death scene."

"Hey, I like the happy endings." Bulkhead interupted.

"Except they set it up to look like he was going to die the entire movie- whoa." Wheeljack did a double take as the Lizard Monster had a blue glow under its scales before unleashing extremely hot looking flames onto the other monster, which just barely stayed standing.

"Ooh, Atomic Fire!" Miko cheered. The female lead managed to get her RPG to go into the open mouth of the monster. "Nice shot."

After that it took a very short time for the lizard monster to defeat the other monster. Once the movie finished, Wheeljack left to patrol the rebuilding city of Jasper. Miko chose to sleep inside Bulkhead, and eventually, the base went quiet.

* * *

Arcee sat next to the berth, watching the monitors measuring the wolf predacon that was Jack's vitals. She almost couldn't believe this was real, that the wolf predacon was Jack. Or that they'd almost left Jack in the desert (and she was still kicking herself for that). There were so many questions left to answer, but right now she could relax in the knowledge that Jack was safe, and they'd figure everything else out later.

"Arcee, you should go recharge, he won't wake up for a while." Ratchet checked the monitor before gently adjusting the line.

"In a bit, Ratchet, I'm ... I need some time." Arcee shifted slightly, studying the large black frame. When he transformed, he would be bigger than her, maybe even be the same size as Bulkhead or Ultra Magnus.

Ratchet shook his head. June had been hard to convince to leave, as it was Agent Fowler had barely convinced her to sleep in his office before he left for the night, and Ratchet suspected she'd be back long before the bare minimum of human's required sleep time. Arcee was trying to make up lost time, but there was no need for her to be on guard twenty-four/seven.

"Arcee, Ratchet and I will watch over Jack, you should recharge for a little while, we will get you if his state changes." Optimus spoke up from where he was logging his latest scouting mission.

Arcee looked up, and reluctantly nodded. As she stood up, however, a soft growl surprised them. "Jack?" Arcee turned back, in time to see Jack's optics open. "Jack?"

It seemed to take a while before he focused on her. "Arrcee?"

"Right here, Jack." She gently touched his paw, "How are you feeling?"

"Betterrr-I-guess." He growled slightly, trying to clear the static. "Dunno-how-should-feel."

"Jack, how did this happen?" Ratchet began checking over Jack now that he was awake.

Jack growled, eyes glowing a faint green. "Knockout-found-rrresidual-sparrkk-enerrrrgy-mayybe-from-vector-sigma-he-decided-to-make-cyberrrtrrtonian-Megatrrron," Jack growled again, "said-no-Predacon-instead." Jack shifted slightly on the berth.

"Do you know how they did this? A machine or something?" Arcee asked, honestly baffled how this could have been done.

"Nno-was-Energon-and," Jack growled, "Silverrry-yelllow-stuff-dun-rememberrr-worrd." He snarled suddenly. "Predak-Predaking-used-green-enerrgon, fasterr-he-said."

"Synth-En, the Decepticons must've been able to reverse engineer some." Ratchet frowned. "That accounts for your optics and your anger, as well as the anomalies from your readings. I'm going to do some more diagnostics while you're awake."

"Rrratch-fix?" Jack asked hopefully, and Arcee watched as Ratchet flinched.

"I'll do what I can." Ratchet responded, earning a growl from Jack.

"Ratch-et-fix-anger." Jack snorted. "Dunnt-spect-mirracle." Jack laid his head back down. "Sleep-more."

"I'll be here when you wake up." Arcee promised. None of them corrected Jack's use of the word sleep, though it wasn't remotely accurate.

"Ratchet, what Jack said about the residual spark energy..." Optimus started, then hesitated, not sure what to say.

"His Mother was the one that did the initial physical, and the human doctor they went to found nothing abnormal. I wouldn't have thought to scan for it." Ratchet turned back to his monitor. "It would not have been harmful, we would have noticed that."

"It might be prudent to check the others for it, though, just in case." Arcee vented. "They've all been exposed to various energies, we should make sure that this is a one time thing."

"Probably shouldn't tell Miko, she might try it." Ratchet glared at the screen. "Now go recharge."

"She's got the apex armor, I doubt she would." Arcee sat down so she could lean against the berth.

"I will discuss this with Agent Fowler as well." Optimus returned to the report he was typing. Once Arcee was in recharge Ratchet vented harshly.

"Optimus, Jack requires more Energon to try and stabilize his new body. The synthetic Energon used is strengthening him now, but the longer he goes without being stabilized... I don't know if it will start breaking down." It was the worst case scenario, most likely nothing would happen for a long time, but Ratchet was a believer in preparing for the worst. "Even at rest, his body is processing energon faster than I would consider healthy, similar to my old readings."

"I will talk to Agent Fowler. For now, we will focus on getting Jack acclimated to his new body." Optimus assured him.

Ratchet gave a short nod, and began the comparisons on the CNA and DNA samples.

* * *

Raf was an early riser, had always been, but this morning, he wanted to check that he hadn't been dreaming that they'd gotten Jack back as a giant wolf.

"Ratchet?" Raf moved over to stand near the medic.

"Good morning, Rafael, did you sleep well?" Ratchet greeted.

"Well enough." Raf looked at the new form of Jack. "Is that really Jack?" He managed. Raf wasn't sure how- they knew how Silas had taken Breakdown's body as his own, but this was something different.

"There are trace amounts of DNA matching Jack's mixed with the CNA. I'm guessing the CNA partially bonded with the DNA, using it as a template instead of completely rewriting it." Ratchet explained, showing the the comparisons on the monitor screen. It had taken most of the night to get them this comprehensive, and there were still some parts of the Predacon CNA that didn't seem to be active yet, but Ratchet didn't know if that was because of it bonding with Jack's DNA, the use of the Syth-En or some other factor.

"Which is why he still sounds like himself?" Raf asked, looking at the monitors. "His energy levels are still kinda low, Ratchet."

"The Decepticons used Synth-En when they transformed him, while he can function on less fuel than his body needs, it's also making him process it faster. I'm still trying to calculate the amount of energon he'll need to offset the faster processing."

"So, Jack's got the cybertronian equivalent of a really fast metabolism?" Raf asked. There was a pause as Ratchet looked up the word.

Metabolism referred to the Metabolic rate that humans processed fuel into energy, a slow metabolism meant the person was more likely to gain weight from eating too much or the wrong foods, while a fast metabolism meant that they needed to eat more in order to keep up their energy stores. Most humans had their metabolism slow as they got older, and occasionally if there was a problem with the available food amounts the metabolic rate would change to match, so it was very rare for those with a fast metabolism to starve in a situation where they were required to take less fuel, but it wasn't unheard of for there to be problems following such a situation. It wasn't exactly accurate comparison, but it was certainly close enough to what was going on for Ratchet to accept the use of the phrase to describe Jack's situation.

"Yes." Ratchet looked up in time to see Raf's expression go from curiosity to concern.

"But, you guys are still a little low on Energon, do you have enough?"

"Ep, ep, don't worry about that, we'll be able to take care of him and ourselves just fine." Ratchet assured him. "Go get something to eat, I'm going to need your help for calibrating the scanners for more detailed internal scans, Jack's armor is making it difficult."

Raf nodded, and began to move to the ladder that would lead down to the floor. A low growl made him pause, and Ratchet immediately turned to the berth.

"Rratch?" The wolf stirred, but didn't lift his head.

"Right here, Jack, you're safe." Ratchet assured him. "It's morning."

"Rraf?" Jack looked over, his tail gave a slight wag, before stilling.

Raf managed to smile. "Hey Jack, we missed you."

"Miszsed-you-too." Jack's optics seemed to have trouble staying open. "You-oh-kay?"

"I'm fine, Jack, you might want to get some more sleep before Miko wakes up though." Raf suggested.

There was a low huff that might have been a laugh, and Jack's optics closed down again.

"He still sounds ... staticky." Raf looked at Ratchet, who wordlessly picked him up. "Ratchet?"

"There are several possibilities, most likely his vocalizer is still trying to calibrate and him forcing himself to talk interrupted the process, I'll have to run more tests."

"I'll be back in a bit, Miko will probably be up by then." Raf noted and Ratchet set him down gently by the door.

"I'm not looking forward to that." Ratchet sighed, and Raf just waved before trotting over to the mess hall. Ratchet watched as one of the soldiers struck up a conversation with the small teen, before he turned back to analyzing the data he'd already recieved from Jack. After a moment, he grumbled to himself and gently shook Arcee out of recharge.

"Watch Jack for a moment, I need to go to Ultra Magnus' ship." He informed her, at her questioning look, he sighed, "Need to see if he has a data pad or file I can borrow, I won't be long." He assured her before leaving. Hopefully he could use that to start backing up the information he was getting, the last thing he needed was to start over from scratch if they lost this base as well.

Arcee immediately stood up and stretched, before studying Jack. He looked to be much better than he'd been last night, and was even already coming out of the recharge cycle. "Morning Partner, how are you feeling?"

"Better-I-think." Jack grimaced, then sniffed the air. "Where-arrre-we-Arrcee? Smell-people."

"We're on a military base, the base that Agent Fowler is actually assigned to, we're in one of the hangars. The personnel are sworn to secrecy about us, and according to Agent Fowler there's a 'Don't ask, Don't tell' type of policy in place regarding our interactions with the personnel, whatever that means. Smokescreen apparently keeps violating it, he got himself a new paintjob by asking someone on base for help." Arcee shook her head.

Jack chuckled, "Some-people-dun-change."

"You can say that again, just wait until Miko wakes up." Arcee smiled as Jack huffed in mock annoyance. "Your mom had some questions she wanted you to answer when you woke up, she said you normally ask someone with a possible head injury these questions, so I need to ask for your full name, the year, and the last thing you remember."

"Jackson-Daarrby, Twenny-Thirrten, Talking-to-RatchnRraf." He lifted his head as they received a call from Smokescreen, who had apparently lost Bumblebee in a jungle.

* * *

"You're a giant wolf! That's so awesome!" Was the first thing Miko had to say to Jack once she woke up. "Can you breathe fire?"

"Miko." Bulkhead tried to censure her enthusiasm, as well as keep her from running over to Jack, who was still on the berth, but far more alert than he had been. He was looking around, and immediately focused on Ultra Magnus as he entered with Wheeljack, who distracted Miko only a little better than Bulkhead.

"Who-he?" Jack asked Arcee, who startled in surprise.

"You wouldn't know, that's Ultra Magnus, he was Optimus' second in command on Cybertron, he found me after ..." Arcee trailed off, and Jack shifted to nudge her.

"Not-fault. Knnockout-planned-kiidnnapping." Jack assured her.

"What do you mean, he planned it?"

"Hhad-part-of-house-in-room." Jack managed, making an odd noise to try and clear the static. "Was-weird-cage."

"How'd you escape?" Miko had slipped Bulkhead, much to his exasperation.

"I'm curious as well." Ultra Magnus spoke stepping closer.

"Dun-Don't-remember." Jack growled. "Was-so-angry-Attack-Predaking-try-attack-Knockout-green-light-then-desert."

"A space bridge? Why would they bridge you out?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Was-angry," Jack growled slightly, shaking his head before laying it down, "m-not-sure, not-thinking-then."

"How did you find us?" At this point, Arcee was about ready to stop the commander from interogating Jack, no matter how much she wanted answers, she wanted to protect her partner more.

"Find-you?" Jack asked confused.

"You were roughly a hundred miles from the base, and heading straight for us." Arcee explained.

"Mom." Jack answered, lifting his head. June immediately responded as she exited Fowler's office, having slept a lot harder than she had expected to.

"Right here, Jack." She reassured him, and his tail wagged a little as he looked at her.

"Focus on the question if you would." Ultra Magnus frowned at him. Arcee tried not to glare at the commander.

"No. Smell-mom-knew-she-was-important." Jack corrected with yet another soft growl.

Unnoticed by the bots, June gave a tearyeyed smile at that.

"Wait, you could smell her from that distance?" Wheeljack asked.

"I-guess?" Jack was baffled by the scrutiny, but he was also still rather tired and his throat still hurt. He put his head back down, optics partially closing. "Sorry-tired-again."

"Your vocalizer is still bothering you?" Ratchet came in, and did another scan. "Hmm. Try not using it for a while."

"Great! I can tell you everything you've missed! Check this out!" Miko activated the apex armor, and used it to clamber up next to Jack. He looked stunned at her wearing it, or possibly at the way she scrambled up, bumping into Arcee on the way.

"Wrecker, what have I told you about using that?" Ultra Magnus frowned down at her.

"What? You were worried about Jack accidentally hurting us, he can't hurt me in this, Snuff the Dragon couldn't."

"What?!" Jack jerked up, growling. "He-"

"Relax, he didn't even hurt me." She patted his shoulder. "Anyway, so it all started when we got back together and," Miko launched into the story with gusto, ignoring most interruptions and corrections with, "Yeah, that, anyway!"

Jack for the most part listened silently. Occasionally he would give a low growl at the mention of Knock Out, Starscream or Predaking. He didn't react to Miko accidentally hitting him, just shifting slightly. Eventually, however, his optics closed and he fell into recharge.

"Why's he so tired?" Miko asked when she noticed.

"His entire biology has changed, he's still adjusting and rest will help." Ratchet scoffed. "Now, if you would get out of that armor, I want to scan you, Rafael and June."

"What? How come?" Miko asked, and promptly came out of the armor while still on the berth next to Jack. Arcee watched as Ultra Magnus twitched, the stoic commander struggling with something internally. Ratchet just picked Miko up and moved her to a work table.

"Jack woke up last night, apparently, Knockout noticed he had a unique energy signature which was why they captured him, we want to make sure none of you have something similar." Arcee explained. "We're just covering our bases."

June frowned at them, but didn't press, there would be time for that after they let her near her son.

 **Next chapter, what's happening on the Nemesis, and some more plot. I'm going to expand on some of the thoughts I had about the third season, mostly because it was way too short for my tastes.**


	2. Chapter Two

**So, I normally try to avoid copying myself too much, but there's a bit in here that is shared with the one shot Talks and Translations I wrote.**

 **Note: Dividing lines are not being saved for some reason, will fix as soon as possible.**

The entire ship knew when Predaking returned. The predacon hadn't returned with the human experiment and based on the rage, the Autobots must've killed the it.

Megatron and Shockwave were currently talking him down. Starscream was pretending that he had more important things to do on the bridge, so he was probably talking to Soundwave about how sad it was to lose the human turned Predacon.

Knockout, meanwhile, returned to his room. The cage that held Jack stood on a short table, and with nothing to do until Shockwave asked for more information on the Synth-En, he began to fix it up a bit, taking time to scan and catalog the items inside as he went, movie posters, books, some random Knick-knacks that only Primus or perhaps Unicron knew what they were for. Pictures of Jack and his mother he found were scanned, and Knockout mentally noted to do some more research on that aspect of human culture in the future, before Lord Megatron erased it. It would make a small chapter in the history books, to be sure, but it was a more than fair exchange for a new home world.

A tiny notebook he nearly tore had random notes about logins and passwords, and he nearly smacked himself for not having checked out this angle before- social media was a more Soundwave way of doing things, and doing so now might attract too much attention. He'd wait before he tried it.

On that note, it would be best if he moved the cage out of his room, make it look like he was loosing interest in Jack. It didn't take long to grab a trolley and place the cage on it, and Breakdown's room wasn't that far relative to his, it was just one of the more hidden rooms, being closer to the Vehicon rooms than the officer quarters. It took him a moment to wrestle the cage onto the table, and with a soft sigh as he looked over the room and cage he prepared to head to the lab even without Shockwave's summons. He needed to think of something else for a while.

He slammed into Predaking with the trolley. For a spark-stopping moment, he thought the other would kill him. "Predaking! What a surprise!"

"You knew the Synth-En was unstable, why did you tell me of it?!" Predaking growled, clawed servoes flexing.

"Excuse me? I told you I was using regular energon, did you stop to think that there might have been a reason I wasn't using the Synth-En despite it being faster?!" Knockout snapped. "You were the one that wanted a mate so badly that you used something you didn't fully understand to do it!"

Predaking snarled, but didn't attack, even visibly regained his composure. "What are you doing here?"

"This is my former partner's room. I'm allowed. What are you doing here?" Knockout crossed his arms.

"... Ripclaw's scent is here." It was hard to tell who was more surprised by the honest answer, and Predaking focused on the cage. "What is that?"

"Ja-Ripclaw's former cage. Took a few rooms from his house to be more comfortable." Knockout watched Predaking sniff the three rooms, lingering on the bedroom.

"There is scents of other humans, but only one other just as strong as Ripclaw's."

"Probably his mother or carrier. From what I can tell, there's no sire in their lives." Knockout was blocked in the room by the trolley and Predaking, it was decidedly not a position he wanted to be in.

"... I see. You took Ripclaw from his carrier." Predaking growled.

"He was legal! Besides, it's not like you were any better, Jack probably asked you not to and you did it anyway." Knockout ignored the fact he was being hypocritical, he was trapped and wanted Predaking to leave. Or at least get the possible mauling over with so he could get repaired sooner than later.

Predaking looked around the room, before he growled, turned on his heel, and left.

The sudden exit did not do anything to relieve the red mech still left in the room. He felt himself trembling at the very near miss.

Knockout sat down on Breakdown's berth, barely believing that once again, he'd avoided death by angry Predacon. The lab would be a nice quiet place without much threat to his life or worse, his paint job.

 **Nemesis Bridge**

 _"General Bryce, this is Agent Fowler, the bots picked up an injured bot in the desert that might be an ally, Ratchet's doing a full medical check now, I'll give you an update tomorrow_." Soundwave stopped the recording. Megatron gave a slow nod of consideration as he turned to Shockwave.

"They didn't kill him, this will make things difficult with Predaking." Megatron spoke gravely, they had lost too many soldiers, to add the predacon to the list would be a disaster.

"Perhaps we should give the illusion of continuing the clones?" Starscream offered.

"We do not have the resources." Shockwave reminded them. They had quite a bit, to be sure, but it would only be enough to make one with their focus being mainly on the Omega Lock. It was a shame to have lost such an avenue of knowledge that the human base specimen would have provided. He'd spent so long with sub-standard specimens that he'd been looking forward to having a new type. Still, the fact it was alive meant he'd be able to use it for research at a later date, so the halt on his research was only temporary.

"Not until the Omega Lock is rebuilt." Megatron smiled. "Which I believe will be incentive enough for him to aid us in completing the work."

"I shall begin my study of the synthetic energon." Shockwave left to do so.

"With any luck, the autobots will accidentally trigger a rampage from the beast." Starscream crossed his arms.

"A possibility." Megatron gave a wry smile, "but it's more likely that Prime will keep it sedated to try and save it, which may end up being in our favor."

 **Unspecified Army Base**

"Prime, how stable is the kid?" Agent Fowler asked the instant he entered Optimus's new cab. It was the easiest way to speak without being overheard, and Optimus was polite enough to not immediately question Fowler's request.

"The synthetic energon used to transform him makes him angry, aggressive, when faced with certain triggers- mainly the memories of his treatment at the hands of the Decepticons." Optimus explained. "However, from what I have observed, Jack is still the same, and well aware of his current mental instability. He asked Ratchet if he could fix the anger."

"Can he?"

"It stands to reason that if unstable synthetic energon was used, finding a stable version could stabilize Jack ... Ratchet is already working on it." Optimus shifted slightly on his tires. "But there is another issue, Jack is processing energon faster than healthy... and we have a limited supply."

"What do you mean by processing faster than healthy?"

"Ratchet could explain better, but all of us process energon at different rates, and battles make us use more than just being around the base. However, even resting, Jack is processing energon at an unusually fast rate, requiring more energon."

"And if the kid can't get enough?"

"Ratchet fears the worst case scenario, that Jack's new form will become unstable and slowly fail." Optimus explained.

Fowler rubbed his eyes. That was what he hadn't wanted to hear. The bots were doing a little better with energon collection and storage, especially now that he was actively helping them with getting geological surveys that would narrow down energon locations, but they were still limited in the man-power needed to get the most out of the deposits.

Not to mention, explaining to General Bryce that the bots needed to feed the mentally unstable wolf-bot to keep him from getting worse was going to take careful planning in order to keep from making it sound like Jack would kill them if he wasn't fed enough.

"So, basically you need to be able to feed Jack what you can get now, how much can you give to Jack?"

"Ratchet is still calculating, but so far, Jack has been given a full ration for a regular warrior, and is still rather weak. It is not unusual for different frame types to require different amounts of energon."

"I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises."

"Understood. I believe you have something else to say?" Prime finally asked.

"Prime... we can't let anyone else know about Jack's transformation." Fowler was dreading this conversation, he hadn't been able to sleep well, trying to think of a way to do his job that didn't make Jack's new form a science experiment. Especially with the call he got last night.

"Has something happened Agent Fowler?" And naturally, Optimus was able to see right through him.

"Attempted Break-in to the garage holding Nemesis Prime, most likely MECH, seems it was wishful thinking that Silas killed them all off." He sighed. "We suspected some were in the military, but it looks like Sy had some backers possibly higher up. They already can process energon thanks to Starscream, they don't need to know it can be used to turn people into bots."

"What is your plan, Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked after a moment.

"Officially, the bot we picked up was a Decepticon prisoner that escaped some freaky experiments. I'm thinking we blend some more truth with the fiction that way we don't have to many slip ups." Fowler admitted. "Problem is, I need a name to give the general when I report to him in a couple hours." It was an easy story, and it would be what was placed on the official record... this of course meant that Jack would have to be listed as officially dead, but he had time to come up with that story (and prep June for the lie, which might take longer).

"I see. It's not unusual for cybertronians to pick new designations if they've been modified, or have had some other major change in their life, you could simply ask him to come up with a designation... or ask Arcee what name she chose for him when speaking our language."

"Raf did mention that Bee didn't always use our names." Agent Fowler noted. Raf hadn't said what they were, and the agent hadn't really been interested at the time.

"The Guardians of the children picked names for them when referring to them in our language, translating names between our languages, with few exceptions, is not an exact process." Optimus explained. "Our names for example, do not quite translate to your english, Bumblebee and Arcee are both approximate translations, while Wheeljack and Ratchet are more exact."

"Do I or Mrs. Darby have the same issue?" Fowler was only half curious what he was being called, the other half wondered if Optimus knew that for the first few months of their acquaintance that Fowler's codenames for certain reports were not really flattering. (He kind of regretted calling Cliffjumper 'Hornhead' now.)

"Yes." Optimus replied. "But before we proceed, we should speak to all of them about this, Jack especially."

"I was hoping to put that one off until the Kid was more stable." Fowler admitted.

"That would be unwise, Jack has been through much uncertainty recently, it would be better for him to know what is being done and said." Optimus shifted into drive, and moved into the hanger before Fowler could object.

Pulling in, they saw Raf talking to Jack, who was quietly listening. Arcee, meanwhile, was glaring at Ultra Magnus, she'd planted herself between him and Jack. Ignoring the standoff by having one of their own was Ratchet and June. Wheeljack was helping Bumblebee and Smokescreen with unloading energon from a trailer.

"I don't think I want to know." Fowler got out, and Optimus closed the door before transforming.

"What is the problem?" Optimus chose to address Ultra Magnus and Arcee first.

"Your Soldier is refusing to let me speak with the predacon." Ultra Magnus reported. Agent Fowler had to struggle to keep a straight face as he climbed the stairs to the human area, unable to stop the stray thought that the large bot sounded like an exasperated parent.

"He keeps bothering Jack with questions and Jack needs to rest his vocalizer for it to calibrate correctly." Arcee crossed her arms.

"And what is the opinion of our medic?" Optimus asked.

"He needs to rest it. We got enough from last night and this morning for me to be confident that Jack's who he says he is." Ratchet answered, before moving back to his computer.

"Then any further questions can wait. Is there something else wrong, Mrs. Darby?"

"It's nothing that can't wait." She promptly turned her back on Ratchet and moved over to stand by Raf.

"Then agent Fowler has something to say to all of us." Optimus paused and Jack gave a low growl and a jerk of his head to point out Miko and Bulkhead coming back from getting breakfast. "Thank you, Jack." The wolf gave a soft huff and laid his head down, tail briefly thumping the table.

Once Miko had gotten up on the human area and Bulkhead closed the door, Agent Fowler cleared his throat. "0300 this am, there was an attempt to break into the garage where we are holding the remains of Nemesis Prime. We think that MECH is getting back on its feet after Silas went off the deepend. This means they're still a potential threat, and if their goal has remained the same, we can't let them know that a human got turned into a bot." Jack lifted his head, and tilted it slightly. "Officially, the story is going to be that the wolf we picked up was an autobot subjected to the decepticon mad science division. We won't be able to mention Jack."

"So, why are you telling us this?" Miko asked.

"One, to get everyone on the same page so no one slips up, two, I need a name to give the general when I see him." Fowler explained. "Optimus says that you bots have come up with names for us when talking in your original language?"

"What?" June asked, looking up at the bots.

"Your names do not all translate into our language Mrs. Darby so the guardians of the children picked names for them. Translating them back into your language, the designations are Joyride for Miko, PatchUp for Rafael, Roadhauler for Jack." Optimus explained. "Before Wheeljack arrived, we did not often use the Cybertronian name for Jack, as his name does translate well into our language."

"You two also have names, Red Alert for June, and Hubcap for Agent Fowler." Ratchet added at June's look of confusion.

"Hubcap?" Fowler raised an eyebrow. It wasn't as bad as what he'd been thinking, but still, wasn't his first choice.

"Named after a communication specialist we lost in the early days of the war." Optimus explained softly. "As our liaison with the United states government, you are considered a communication specialist, so I found it fitting."

"There were a couple Red Alerts, speciality was either security or medical." Ratchet added, looking away from the monitor. "We agreed the designation fit June Darby, emergency room medic."

"Not to mention her helicopter mom status." Miko muttered.

"Miko." Jack growled, before shaking his head.

"So we can use Roadhauler." Arcee suggested. One hand on Jack's shoulder. "It won't be too much of a lie that way, and we can come up with a new designation later."

Jack looked at her for a moment, before looking at his mother. June gave a small nod and a sad smile.

"You alright with that Jack?" Fowler looked over, and Jack gave a short nod. "Then Roadhauler it is, try to remember to use it."

Jack laid his head down, and Ratchet frowned scanning.

"On that note, I believe there is schoolwork to be done." June turned to Miko and Raf, ushering them to the table and chairs.

"I'll finalize my report." Fowler nodded at them and went to his office.

As the bots began moving to their posts for the day, Wheeljack stopped to talk to Miko before he went on patrol.

Agent Fowler heard the groundbridge begin to power up as he moved to his desk, when there was a loud growl and Ratchet and Arcee yelling 'Jack!'.

He rushed out to see Jack, unsteady on his four feet, and blocking Wheeljack from the groundbridge.

"What is going on?"

"Miko." Jack growled.

There was a pause, and then Wheeljack chuckled. "Well, looks like you caught us." He opened his chest compartment and a very annoyed Miko popped her head out.

"It's a jungle, Jackrabbit, I just wanted pictures for my report." Miko reluctantly let Wheeljack put her back.

Jack snorted, before moving back to the berth, he needed Optimus' help to get back on it. Despite Ratchet's scolding, his tail wagged when Arcee spoke.

"Nice catch, partner."

Jack was asleep before Ratchet reached the middle of his rant on reckless behavior.

Excerpt from Video File T-A3O9. Special Agent Fowler Reporting.

"So this Roadhauler was a Decepticon prisoner that escaped the cybertronian version of a mad scientist?"

"Yes, Hauler was subject to Knockout and Shockwave, a Decepticon who apparently is known for reformatting bots into weapons."

"And your report includes a mention of an unstable mental state."

"The cybertronian version of steroids was used in the process, Hauler has anger that he can't control, no matter how much he tries. That said, he's not a threat to the team, he gets angry, he puts himself in a corner."

"And the children?" Bryce asked.

"A bot stays with him at all times, but he's hyper aware of where they are, to the point of knowing Miko tried to sneak out with Wheeljack."

"And your note about Roadhauler might change his name?"

"Apparently it's a cultural thing where bots that have been reformatted have the option for changing their name to better fit their new body or status, there's a few rules apparently, and Roadhauler is a bit reluctant to do so."

"And does this Roadhauler know anything about the whereabouts of Jackson Darby?"

"Only that he was indeed there, his memory as mentioned prior, is vague at best. Ratchet believes that it will get better with rest."

"Your previous report of Smokescreen's infiltration indicates no mention of this bot."

"Smokescreen only went to the hold and the private quarters, he didn't go to the labs, where Roadhauler was being held."

End Video file T-A3O9 excerpt.


	3. Chapter 3

**More reactions and getting used to the new 'Normal'. Also, Raf may be careful, but it's not careful enough.**

Jack started awake. He wasn't really sure how much time had passed, given he kept falling asleep, but he felt more awake this time. Ratchet was working on the computer, and Miko was busy beating Raf at a video game. Bumblebee was cheering Raf on.

'Watch out for the shell!' Bee warned, only for Raf to groan as Miko cheered. 'Told you.'

Jack shifted on the berth. He wanted to get up to see the screen, he wanted to move around.

"You're awake." Ratchet typed something in a new screen before coming over. "Let's see if you can walk a bit."

"Ratch-" his voice was still staticky.

"Ep, ep, no talking yet. Try walking." Ratchet instructed as he disconnected the various cables.

Despite having leapt off the berth to keep Wheeljack from taking Miko, Jack almost fell off the berth this time, his legs were unsteady.

Ratchet placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "One step at a time, Roadhauler."

Jack gave a slight nod, and took a small step forward. It was a little awkward at first, having four legs instead of two was still new, and he still overthought the steps and which leg went next.

"You're going to have to walk around a bit everyday, last thing we need is you loosing your mobility." Ratchet decided. Jack sat down, the walk hadn't been too bad, he wasn't tired or feeling like he needed to lay down, but his legs ached.

'We can take turns helping!' Bumblebee offered.

"I'll go over what I've been able to decode and scan from your new body later, but you do have a t-cog that is functional, you might be able to transform." Ratchet frowned as he spoke, going over whatever data he'd obtained from the short walk. "Unless the use of Synthetic Energon caused some sort of block."

Transform. Jack stared at Ratchet for a moment. It honestly hadn't occurred to him that he could transform as well. Not even after Predaking had done so.

'Just think about changing, it'll feel like stretching.' Bumblebee encouraged when he saw Jack's confusion, 'You can do it Jack!'

Jack growled slightly, trying to think back to the desert... he'd wanted to transform then, but hadn't. That odd sense of other and the instincts he'd been ignoring... he tapped into that.

Everything suddenly shifted, and while Bumblebee was right about it feeling like stretching after being in one position for too long, it also hurt.

Especially as he hit the ground face-first, having lost balance mid-transformation. The sensation of his 'head' moving was dizzying and he hadn't been prepared for it.

"Whoa." Miko and Raf were watching.

'Easy there Jack,' Bumblebee helped him up, Ratchet helping from the other side.

"Supposed to hur-hurt?" Jack asked. Less static but his voice was still not clear.

"It hurt?" Ratchet's frown deepened. "Describe the pain."

"Like I was pulling something out of joint." Jack ended up sitting on the the berth as Ratchet scanned him again. Bumblebee distracted Miko and Raf so Jack could have some privacy.

Jack was getting sick of being scanned. He growled, but stayed still.

Ratchet scoffed. "Don't start, you may not like it, but I have to figure out how the synthetic energon has affected this transformation of yours."

"I know. Tired of being a science project." He glared at his claw like hands or servos, he guessed.

"You're not a project, you're a patient." Ratchet briefly rested his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Besides, this is the last set of scans before I can have the computer compile the information- unless you do something and injure yourself. Lay back." Ratchet got the last set of scans, and then urged Jack to sit up again. "Most likely, the pain was due to your t-cog being so new- it'll take a few transformations for it to get used to activity, you should probably transform once a day as well." Ratchet noted.

Jack nodded, and looked at his clawed servoes.

"Ratch? What do I look like?" Jack asked as Ratchet helped him stand. Ratchet paused, and looked around.

"Need a mirror?!" Miko called and held up a handheld mirror. Why she had it was a mystery until Jack noticed Raf's glare at the mirror. Miko must've used it to prank Raf.

He couldn't see his entire face, but it was good enough.

'You don't look too bad.' Bumblebee offered.

"Thanks Bee, but this is going to take some getting used to." At least his optics were blue. And he didn't have fangs.

"Wait, you can understand Bumblebee now?" Raf asked, stepping closer.

"Uh, yeah ... wait, how can I understand you? I know you're not saying English..." Jack blinked. "Ratch?" He looked at the medic, confused.

"Hmm, all I can do is speculate that whatever the nanites used, it had basic cybertronian language skills encrypted in it. Without a sample, I can't be sure." Ratchet turned back to the computers. "Now keep it down, I need to concentrate."

The two humans, one former human and the autobot scout shared a look of semi-fond amusement.

In a jungle miles from the base, Arcee was quickly loosing patience with her mission.

"Anything, Bulk?" Arcee wanted to finish the search for energon quickly. Jack was starting to stay awake for longer periods of time, and she wanted to be there to at least talk to him.

"Take it easy Cee, Roadhauler is still going to be there when we get back." Bulkhead assured her.

"I know, I know." The two met up at a narrow gorge, Arcee transformed to get a better reading. "I just..."

A part of her hadn't expected to get Jack back at all. She'd hoped and prayed but inside, she was so sure he would be killed. After the others she had lost, she was so scared that Jack would be another casualty of those she had let in.

Especially since she had let him in a lot closer than Cliff and Tailgate, he was more like a little brother to her than anything else.

Grant it, being captured and turned into a science experiment really wasn't a good thing, but the fact he survived was more important at the moment.

(What she could never, ever, say was that some part of her was actually glad he was cybertronian now, his previous human lifespan had been somewhat of crushing reminder that she would lose him someday, even though it wasn't to war. How horrible was that?)

"I know, I'd be the same if we had lost Miko." Bulkhead joined her. Arcee had been relieved to see them when she and the commander had rescued them from Predaking, but Miko asking where Jack was had her pulling away just like she had after Cliffjumper's death.

Arcee had been nothing but professional, had kept Mrs. Darby from leaving, but the more time had passed, the less she reached out to them, and the more single-minded she became in fights.

Getting Jack back was a great boost for morale, for everyone, but it definitely kept Arcee from doing something she would have regretted.

"I ever get Knockout in my sights..." Arcee trailed off, servoes clenching into fists.

"I'll hold him down for you." Bulkhead promised. "Now, let's go make our reports."

Driving back through the ground bridge, Bulkhead almost slammed into Arcee when she suddenly stopped and transformed. He swerved around her, transformed and saw what had surprised her.

The mech sitting on the medical berth had a tail that was tucked close and was holding an empty energon cube that was actually impaled on a claw. Ratchet was working on getting it off, and was clearly exasperated.

Bumblebee cheerfully greeted them as he shut down the bridge, ignoring the odd scene behind him in favor of escorting Miko and Raf to dinner at the mess. Bulkhead decided to join them.

"How'd you even manage this?" Ratchet grumbled as he got the box off.

"Dunno." Jack flexed his claws once the cube was off. Arcee studied the new form, not sure what to think about it.

He was tall now, definitely close to Optimus' height, his root mode was slightly more beastly compared to Predaking's, the upper part of the beast mode's head formed a cowl with head fins, but his armor was less angular.

Arcee had an odd feeling that Jack's root form was unfinished or missing something, but shoved that thought aside. "Do I want to know?" She asked instead. She ignored the way Jack's tail briefly wagged as he looked at her, especially as he glared down at his tail.

"Probably not." His voice still had static, but it wasn't nearly as bad as previous times he was speaking. "I'm going to have to learn how to hold things without puncturing them." He briefly looked at the screens and their keyboards.

Arcee could see where that would be an issue, but they could work on that later. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore. T-Transforming was weird." Jack looked at her. "Being this tall is weird." He growled a little at that.

"It's weird for all of us, partner, but we'll get through it together." Arcee assured him, gently resting her hand on his arm. "I promise."

"I believe that." Jack smiled at her.

"Also, I need to apologize... I didn't believe it was you and I almost left you in that desert ... almost..." Arcee felt her vocalizer seize at the memory. She'd been so upset at the thought of the cons using Jack's voice to taunt them, she'd almost let him be recaptured.

"Hey, it's okay... I mean, I was hurt and scared then, but I wouldn't have believed me either... sometimes I still don't quite believe this is real." Jack moved to pat her hand, and his claw-like servoes scratched the back of it. "Scrap, sorry Arcee!"

"It's okay, not even a mesh wound." She assured him, tamping down her guilt that her disbelief had hurt him. A scratch on her paint job was a small thing compared to the relief she felt that Jack wouldn't hold her near-abandonment against her.

That said, Arcee wasn't going to fail him again.

"So, where's everybody else?" Jack asked.

"Optimus is checking out an old decepticon mine, Ultra Magnus is recovering on his ship, Smokescreen and Wheeljack are scouting in the country you call Italy." Arcee explained. "Decepticons have gone pretty quiet, any ideas?"

"... Knockout didn't tell me much. He got in trouble for something though. He moved me to an old room, rather than hand me over to Shockwave." Jack scowled, optics tinged green.

"Trouble in the decepticon ranks?" Arcee frowned.

"Dunno, Predaking ... Predaking wasn't supposed to do this to me. He was really upset about the death of the other predacons..." Jack scowled. "Him and Knockout both need to learn the word 'no'."

Arcee didn't ask for anymore details. If she did, she might actually try to kill most of the decepticon high command. (Though she was definitely keeping that option on the table.) "Want to learn more cybertronian words?"

Jack perked up. Arcee had taught him the cybertronian keyboard and how to turn machines on and off back at the old base, and during their time spent wandering she had begun teaching him to read basic cybertronian- speaking was a little outside the ability of human vocal chords, and had left him feeling like he'd swallowed glass.

"Can we try speaking it now?" Maybe Jack could speak it now, that would be fun- just because he could understand Bee didn't mean he shouldn't try to learn.

"Sure thing." Arcee agreed. "I have to type our report for this scout mission, we can use that."

Jack nodded, tail once again thumping on the berth despite himself- that was getting old fast.

In Italy, Smokescreen was enjoying the winding roads. And for some reason, even the humans treated the speed limit signs as suggestions, so far no one gave them a second look for speeding past them, they'd even been passed by some humans.

That said the scenery didn't do much for the guilt that was eating away at him.

"You're awfully quiet Rookie, what's eating you?" Wheeljack asked, swerving past a slow moving car that was making an odd noise.

"... I think I'm in trouble. I keep getting sent out on back to back scouting missions."

"You think it's because of you leaving Jack on the Nemesis, and the situation Roadhauler's in?"

"Well, that's the most logical reason, isn't it?" Smokescreen admitted. A part of it was definitely justified cowardice, Arcee was almost always by her partner's side, he didn't want to get yelled at by her again.

Smokescreen liked Jack, he was like a mech his own age (or maybe Smokescreen was the equivalent of Jack's human maturity) and he hadn't wanted to leave Jack there.

But Jack had been so convincing and Optimus had been dying that Smokescreen had obeyed despite himself... and Jack had been right, to add injury to insult, if he had taken Jack then, Smokescreen might not have made it in time to save Optimus.

"I didn't want to leave him." Smokescreen explained softly. "But I couldn't save both of them."

Optimus or Jack. That was what it had come down to... and both Jack and Smokescreen picked Optimus.

"No one's upset about you saving Optimus, kid. If you hadn't used the forge on him, we'd all have been scrapped." Wheeljack was sure of that.

To tell the truth, Wheeljack didn't know Jack as well as he did Miko- most of what he knew was second hand. Pit, He knew Raf better than he did Jack.

Miko complained about Jack ruining her fun, but also called him 'kinda cool'. He'd caught her looking sadly at some photos of the boy one night.

Raf wouldn't play a game because it was something he'd been doing with Jack.

Wheeljack's audials still echoed with the yell June Darby had let out when Knockout escaped- it had echoed Arcee's, and Wheeljack was pretty sure that her hit to his dashboard had left a dent.

He'd left that mission with the realization that the only things keeping Arcee from going solo were her bonds with the rest of Team Prime, and despite her words about sticking with their motley team, even that wasn't enough when faced with a chance to rescue her partner- Arcee had lunged for the groundbridge portal, trying to make it before it closed.

Arcee took the safety of the humans very seriously, she had not been happy with June Darby and Agent Fowler going to retrieve the predacon bone without autobot backup. That had been a spectacular argument that ended when June stormed out to her car.

It wasn't just her that had been effected, both Bumblebee and Bulkhead kept their kids closer, and if Miko hadn't gotten the apex armor, Bulkhead probably would have hurt Wheeljack on principle alone.

Jack apparently was just as protective of the other kids as the bots were- that lunge off the table had definitely been more reflex than conscious planning, just to stop him from taking Miko on patrol.

Given Miko's grumbling as he put her back, that reaction was just proof that despite the decepticons best efforts, the kid was very much still himself.

(He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't a little curious about how the decepticons were doing this sort of bio-engineering, but he'd buried that part of him so deep that he was hesitant to offer any help. Besides, Ratchet was more than capable of handling the bio-chemistry, his experience wouldn't add anything.)

"Hey, there's a blip on the radar, could be energon." Smokescreen announced and sped up. Wheeljack fell in behind him, both letting the previous conversation drop. Hopefully this would be good news.

Ultra Magnus was frustrated with being sidelined over his replacement claw, and entering the Unit only increased his frustration.

Arcee was teaching the human turned predacon to read, perfectly at ease as she typed up a report.

Grant it, the closest thing to 'dangerous' that the predacon had done was stopping Wheeljack from taking the honorary wrecker with him. Yet Ultra Magnus could not relax around the other.

"Wasn't Bulkhead supposed to be with you?" Ultra Magnus asked. Both looked at him.

"He decided to escort Miko to the mess. I'm submitting the report now." Arcee looked up at him. "Roadhauler says there was trouble in the decepticon ranks, unknown origin."

"Oh?" Ultra Magnus looked at Roadhauler. The predacon blinked at him, and gave a small nod.

"Knockout was supposed to hand me-n-research to Shockwave, hid me insstead, something had happened." He growled slightly. "Predaking found me, came back upset, not supposed to transform me."

"Do you know why Knockout was supposed to hand you over?"

Roadhauler shook his head. "No sir, he wouldn't tell me anything... said I didn't need to know." He growled a little at that. "Sorry, can't help more ..." He paused, tilting his head.

"What is it?"

"Knockout had other prisoner ... dunno who- heard them in pain." Roadhauler sighed. "Sorry, can't remember anything else."

"It's fine, have you taken the memory test yet?" Ultra Magnus was surprised that he was actually getting answers without Arcee blocking him.

"Memory test?" Roadhauler looked at Arcee.

"To see if you've lost any memories from the transformation, looks like most of the important memories are there since you remember all of us, but you know Ratchet won't do anything by half." Arcee reassured Roadhauler. "June's working on it. Should be ready for tonight." Arcee answered Ultra Magnus.

"Incoming transmission." Ratchet called out, interrupting what was almost a conversation.

"Ratchet? You're not going to believe this..." Smokescreen started.

"We found an abandoned energon mine." Wheeljack added. "The cons didn't even finish stripping it before leaving- and no surprises either."

"We're gonna need help transporting the stuff." Smokescreen added.

"I will-" Ultra Magnus started.

"You are not going." Ratchet informed him, then opened up two other comm lines. "Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Smokescreen and Wheeljack found an energon mine, they require backup."

Ultra Magnus watched in annoyance as Arcee joined the scout and wrecker in going to the mine- most likely to help them with loading the energon.

Everything about this situation screamed trap, but until Ratchet cleared him medically, Ultra Magnus was stuck.

Roadhauler suddenly growled. "Miko!"

"Oh come on! I can help!" Miko was standing by the apex armor, apparently trying to sneak into it.

"You're not supposed to be on the floor while Roadhauler is conscious." Ultra Magnus was beginning to believe Old Kup's stories of bots being reincarnated as organics- it was the most logical reason for Miko's disregard for her physical limitations if she had once been a Wrecker.

"Puh-leeze! The only thing the big softy will do is growl at me and then tattle to the nearest bot!" Miko crossed her arms.

"As much as I appreciate the vote of confidence... I don't think you should take the risk that the synth-en won't override my normal reactions." Roadhauler sighed, rubbing one arm.

"You're shaking." Miko noticed.

Indeed, Roadhauler was trembling slightly.

Ratchet moved over, and guided the predacon into laying down. "Talk to me, what are you feeling?"

"Drained, I guess, tired." Roadhauler watched Ratchet hook up one of the monitoring cables.

"All vitals are coming back within acceptable parameters." Ratchet frowned. "And I didn't have any tremors when I used the synthetic energon... it's possible this was too much activity for one day."

"S-so nap?" The thick static was back.

"That would be advisable." The words had scarcely left Ratchet when the predacon fell into a deep recharging cycle.

"Ratchet? Is he okay?" Miko asked. Apex Armor forgotten due to her concern for her friend. Ultra Magnus awkwardly offered his good hand for her to hop on, he'd much rather have to pick her up than let her try to sit next to the unconscious Predacon. "That wasn't normal."

"No, it wasn't." Ratchet sighed. "I'll keep monitoring him for now. Where's Rafael?"

Raf was still in the mess, and picking at his food. For the most part the soldiers ignored the children when they saw them, the same way they ignored the non-regulation vehicles that turned into giant robots that had a spaceship in the second hangar.

There were a couple exceptions.

"Hey there, why the long face?" A soldier sat close to him, his name tag read FIGUEROA. "You have to go back to school or something?"

"No, I'm just worried."

"About the new bot? Word is there's a new one, but it's damaged or something?"

"Fig, you're not supposed to talk about it man." Another Soldier sat down and proceeded to clean his glasses before eating.

"Off base. We're on base, therefore we can talk about it." Fig looked at Raf. "Sides, you look like you need to talk to someone about something."

"He's nice, but ..." Raf sighed. "He tries to hide it, but every time he doesn't do something just right even though he's recovering he just stops ..."

"Ah!" Glasses blinked. "Sounds like he's frustrated with his own body- buddy of mine had the same issue after getting shot. Though he actually got so frustrated with his physical therapy he occasionally threw things."

"Did he get better?"

"Once he accepted he'd actually have to do things different than before, yes." Glasses turned to chat with another soldier.

Raf sighed and tried to finish his food.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll see him driving around soon." Fig offered.

"He's not a vehicle." Raf got up, leaving a very confused corporal behind.

Later that night, Fig made a call.

"Hey Chica, miss me?" He dodged a magazine. "Eres el único para mi, mi corazon."

"Dude, flirt in Spanish somewhere else!" His bunk mate complained, and Fig slipped out to the bathroom.

"Alright, I'm alone. New robot's injured pretty bad, probably permanently, should be an easy capture when it leaves the base. Oh, and it's not a vehicle." Fig heard steps coming down the hall. "I'll let you go, call you when I get a chance, mi corazon!" He spoke a little louder than necessary, and hung up with a grin as Glasses entered the bathroom and stumbled into a stall.

Fig left the bathroom and re-entered the bunk room with a smile on his face just in case anyone was paying attention, and then rolled into his bunk. He made sure the blanket covered his expression before he let the false smile drop.

His superiors may be interested in the tech, but he was more worried about how attached the kids were, treating giant robots like people. This wasn't like the iron giant movie, these things were deadly, one brought down a tunnel on a buddy of his.

He had a really bad feeling about leaving those kids with the robots. Hopefully, he'd be able to keep the kids out of the way when they took out the robots.

 **There. Having trouble with the lines (still) will go back when They start cooperating.**

 **If Fig sounds familiar, he's one of the soldiers from the first transformers movie- the one that mentioned having the gene of seeing/sensing things before they happened. I liked the character, and was disappointed when the last we saw of him, he was on a stretcher after the battle with Scorpinok ... and that's it. We don't know if he lived or died and he never showed up again.**

 **Of course, I made him a MECH agent... I do weird things to my favorite characters, lol.**


	4. Chapter4

Predaking growled as he settled on the Mesa. Based off the scents, somewhere in the town was the human carrier of Ripclaw. This was the road that she took, presumably to the autobot base.

If she didn't know the fate of her offspring, perhaps she would help him. He had vague memories of carriers being rather protective of young, hopefully she was the same.

—-

Kristen looked up from the nurses station as June entered. Her attempt at a greeting was cut short as she realized June's eyes were red from crying.

"June?" They all knew her son had gone missing the night the town had evacuated, and this long ... if he had been seriously injured, he was probably dead.

"Yes?" June straightened up.

"A-any news about Jack?"

"No. Not yet." June looked at the files on the desk, clearly trying to change the subject.

Kristen didn't let that stop her. "June, please, if you need time off, please take it. No one would judge you."

June glared at her.

"No, you know as well as I do that you need a hundred percent focus, and a part of you isn't here, because you're looking at the out-patient files, not the emergency room ones."

June looked down, and then wordlessly covered her eyes.

"I can't go home, or to the base." She finally admitted.

Kristen took it for a victory. "There's a motel a block over, they're renting rooms at a discount for hospital workers, specially those that are displaced by that meteor shower."

"I can't just leave, I just got here!"

"June, trust me. Just get some sleep."

June turned and left, and one of the administrative doctors came over.

"I owe you twenty from the betting pool, I thought for sure we'd have to slip her a sedative, she's been going almost non-stop since the meteor shower." The two women looked at where their colleague had left. "Did she say anything about her son?"

"No, but I think we all know that if he was still alive, he'd have checked in by now."

—-

June made it to her car, sending a text to Bill that she was off work early and going to a motel for the night when she noticed that her rear tire had a flat. And she hadn't replaced the spare tire yet from her last flat.

Just like that, June began feeling tears prick her eyes as she sat down inside her car. Today was not a good day. Not after giving her son that memory test and learning how much of the finer details of his life he'd forgotten.

Her phone rang, and for a moment she thought about not answering. Unfortunately, it could be important.

"June Darby-" she started.

"Nurse Darby, a predacon lifesign has appeared outside of town and is hovering around your route to base. We're going to bridge you out." Ultra Magnus informed her.

"My car's got a flat, and the parking lot of the hospital has too many windows." June was not going to make Bill's job harder than it had to be.

"I can get her." Smokescreen's voice came over the comm. "We can go in the opposite direction to bridge out and avoid the dragon."

"I can get her." Arcee added.

"Arcee, you're supposed to be with Jack, someone sees me with you, there will be questions. Smokescreen, how soon can you get here?" June asked, pulling out pepper spray from her glove compartment, it wasn't much but it did effect bots.

"On my way now." Smokescreen drove through the ground bridge, and exited on the other side of the city. The amount of time it took to get to June made him wish he'd asked to have the bridge connect in an alleyway or something.

"Mrs. Darby?" Smokescreen opened his driver's side door. He was promptly baffled by her going to his passenger side. "Uh?"

"You're picking me up, I'm good as a passenger."

"Yes ma'am." Smokescreen closed his door. "I've got Mrs. Darby, heading back to the bridge coordinates."

"We're on standby, be careful." Ratchet ordered.

The drive was uncomfortably long just getting here, Smokescreen was a little uneasy about the drive back.

"I'm sorry." Smokescreen apologized without thinking when he stopped at the stoplight. "I shouldn't have left Jack, I didn't want to, but he said-"

"Smokescreen, why did you listen to Jack?" June cut him off. "You ... you keep saying that 'Jack told you', that 'Jack said to', but you never say why you listened and obeyed him?"

"..." Smokescreen shifted on his wheels. "I'm... okay, so you know we're millennia old, right, by your calendar? But if you do ages comparatively, I'm ... well, I'm Jack's age equivalent as a cybertronian." Smokescreen admitted. "So ... I kept forgetting that Jack's not actually my age, or that he wasn't an autobot because he ... was the closest person to my age? I don't know. I just ... it never really clicked that Jack wasn't an autobot, I don't know why!" Smokescreen felt frustrated. "He always felt different..."

"Smokescreen, you came to earth a year ago... after Jack went to Vector Sigma." June paused, vague theories trying to connect to each other running through her mind. "He would've had the spark energy then, what if that's why you thought Jack was your age?"

"It's a theory." Smokescreen agreed. "I just never thought about it, since being with Jack and hanging out was fun, especially pranking that bully- which I was not supposed to mention to you, ever."

"Jack pulled a prank on someone?" June asked, feeling very faint amusement.

"Mean kid that deserved it, who throws food at someone for driving by them?" Smokescreen sounded indignant.

"Did he have fun?"

"... Yeah, he did. Then I kinda forgot he was human and convinced him to come with me on a mission... Arcee was furious."

"I heard." June paused. "Smokescreen, I'm not mad about the pranks, that's normal for a teenage boy. I'm glad you two had fun, a little disappointed that you both forgot about the danger, but you already got punished." June absently patted the dashboard. "As for leaving Jack ... while I'll never be happy about that, I understand Optimus was dying and you didn't have time to argue." Smokescreen was the equivalent of Jack's age, she'd known he was considered a rookie, but... it did explain a lot. "I'm not going to hold it against you, I'm sorry if you thought I was."

"... Jack said you were a lot like Arcee, and she can hold a grudge, so ..."

June chuckled. "I think he meant that we're both protective, not about us holding a grudge."

"Ok, so we're good?"

"We're good." June assured him.

"Great. Um, if I can ... why were you upset during the memory test? When Jack didn't identify the guy in the fishing picture?"

June hesitated, before deciding that she should probably explain it to someone before she melted down again.

"... That was Jack's father. My former husband." June sighed. "He wasn't... the short version is we were young when we got married and he never really wanted to settle down and raise a family. He left, I stayed with Jack. I only kept his name because of legal reasons." And the amount of paperwork was almost not worth it. There was also the added factor that Jack's last name couldn't be changed without her ex-husband's filling out paperwork- which the man was allergic to and would never open- so it was easier for them both just to keep Darby as their last name.

It had also been a peace offering to her in-laws, who, while they had been on her side during the divorce, had held out hope that eventually their son would get over himself. They were gone now.

"... you lost me about the names, but does he know that Jack was missing?"

"We haven't talked for a couple years, I just get the occasional child support check from him." And that had ended a month ago. There was no reason to continue contact.

"So ... he's not a good guy?"

"He's a good guy, just not a good dad. It happens." June slumped back in the seat. Talking about her ex on top of everything else was moving her towards exhaustion.

As she had told Bill, their life together had been quite the saga, one that had been complicated by the fact that she was incapable of hating the man no matter how frustrating he was. She'd only put her foot down when she realized that Jack's well-being was on the line. (It occasionally hurt how easily the man had agreed to everything, and just left without looking back.)

"Okay." Smokescreen was not subtle in the change of subject. "So, prior to everything getting blown up, Jack was talking about horror movies with Miko, and while I want to see some of them, some of them sound problematic? Like the wolf man thing ... probably shouldn't watch that one, but any of the others okay or should I wait longer to ask?"

"Probably a little longer before anyone other than Miko can stomach them." June smiled as Smokescreen complained.

"Aw, come on, what about those black and white ones about aliens? I wanna see what humans thought other planets would look like."

"You haven't been watching Miko's movie nights?"

"I'm on patrol at night lately."

Smokescreen was interrupted by his comm link chiming.

"Ratchet to Smokescreen, the predacon is on the move. Get to the rendezvous now."

"Understood." Smokescreen picked up speed. "Hang on."

June gripped the door handle. Smokescreen didn't react to her foot reflexively hitting an imaginary brake when he sped up through a yellow light.

They cleared the city and Smokescreen sped up even more, the reason why roared after them as they sped through the ground bridge.

Smokescreen screeched to a stop inside the base. The ground bridge quickly closing behind him. "Sorry about that." He apologized to June as the sudden stop had her slamming her foot down in reflex.

"It's alright. Thanks for the ride." June got out, and a quick glance around showed that Jack was once again asleep on the slab.

Smokescreen transformed behind her. "Anytime."

"Until we know why the Predacon was there, I think it would be wise for you to continue to use Smokescreen and the ground bridge for the time being." Ultra Magnus crossed his arms.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Bill looked down at her. "June?"

"One problem, Smokescreen is a little expensive for my budget." June climbed up the ladder to the designated human area.

"We'll think something up." Arcee moved to check on Jack who was still out cold. "Bulkhead and Bumblebee are with Miko and Raf's families for the night."

Explaining the disappearance of the two children had not been easy, and Bill had eventually had to explain everything to Raf's family. Miko's family was still suffering from the paper work nightmare that was trying to explain military secrets to a foreign family, but it was going well so far as June knew.

Optimus returned, sending Smokescreen and Arcee out, and was brought up to speed on the stalking of the Predacon.

"While it is troubling, I am unsure if it is something that Megatron was aware of." Optimus frowned.

"Roadhauler and the Predacon have shown the ability to track across distances farther than anything we know of. Why the Predacon was tracking Nurse Darby is still a concern." Ultra Magnus paused. "It may be because he's trying to find Roadhauler."

"Unfortunately I don't have enough vacation or sick days to use. I can call out for the next couple of days, but not much more." June sighed.

Regardless of Bill's offer to re-pay her anything she missed, it wouldn't look good on her record if she missed anymore days of work.

"Then Smokescreen will be your bodyguard until the Predacon is gone." Ultra Magnus declared, as if that solved the matter.

"I work long shifts, he wouldn't be able to leave the parking lot." June pointed out.

"I could pretend to be dropping you off." Bill offered.

"We will discuss this later when Smokescreen returns. In the meantime, I would suggest calling your superiors and asking them for a few days off, perhaps the Predacon will lose interest if he has no quarry." Optimus decided, and everyone agreed. "Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?"

"Well, while the kids are out, I want to bring something up." June crossed her arms and glared at Ratchet. "Namely, What was it about Raf's scan that you hid from him?"

"Ratchet?" Optimus looked at the medic.

There was a moment where Ratchet glared at June and seemed as if he wouldn't speak, before sighing.

"... Rafael also has a spark signature." Ratchet explained. "It's weak, if he was cybertronian I would not expect him to last a week, but it's there."

"How?" Bill put a hand on June's shoulder.

"My theory is evolution. Your nervous systems emit electricity, it is possible that as more technology develops on this planet, your bodies will also begin to adapt to it as well, possibly to the point of becoming like us ... there are several planets that have evolved along similar lines. Rafael is merely... ahead of the curve." Ratchet sighed. "If this information got into decepticon servoes... I fear they might try to replicate the experiment they did with Jack... only Rafael would not survive it."

Ratchet had seen it several times, an immature spark would sputter out if too much stress was placed on it.

"That would explain how he understands Bumblebee." Bill frowned. Optimus nodded.

"As well as his inherent computer abilities." Ratchet looked weary. "I deleted the scans, wiped them off all the backup drives, but if Knockout or Shockwave get their servoes on him and scan him... he wouldn't survive."

"What about the exposure to dark energon?" June asked, remembering Raf's small body slowly failing him after being hit with it.

"I don't know, I wasn't... monitoring that." Ratchet looked away. "Presumably the exposure to real energon counteracted the dark energon and stabilized it, but I have no way of studying it, not without potentially causing harm to Rafael."

June nodded in understanding.

"I'm not putting that in any report, last thing we need is MECH finding out." Bill leaned against the rail.

"We shall keep the information to ourselves for now." Optimus agreed. "Do you have anything to add, Ultra Magnus?"

"Not at this time."

With that everyone retreated to their own activities, no one noticing that Jack's optics had onlined at some point during their talk.

Jack didn't move, mulling over what he had heard, before deciding that it didn't really matter. He'd kill anyone that tried to harm Raf or any of the rest of his pack.

Decision made, he fell back asleep, dreaming about running in the snow after a lion. When he woke up again, it was to Miko playing guitar.

—-

Miles away, Predaking returned to the Nemesis, growling in frustration. The Autobots had interfered this time, but he would get to Ripclaw's Carrier one way or another.

 **Okay, notes- not demonizing the unnamed mr. Darby, I know several divorced couples and can tell you that sometimes one half of the couple was just not suited for married life or the responsibilities of parenthood but they weren't evil or abusive just ... absent and perfectly normal otherwise. (One couple is doing better as friends than they were married)**

 **Raf is mentioned in extra material that he could understand computer code at age three. We do not get any answers, I made up my own pseudo scientific theory as to why, based on the IDW transformers spotlight that had the evolution of a planet from humanoids to transformers. I can't remember which one.**

 **A lot of plot being laid out, sorry about that.**


End file.
